burnham



July 12, 1927.

C. BURNHAM Box MAKING MACHINE July,r 12, 1927. c. BURNHAM Box MAKING MACHINE original Filed ANev. 1e, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet "(2. BURNHAM Box MAKING MACHINE July l2, 1927.

original Filed Nov. le. 1925 4`sheets-Sheet 5 www TOR INVENmW/uw BY wm @M ATTORN EYS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 BY f l 1 y mun/J ATTORNEY-S July 12,1927. n

C. BURNHAM Box MAKING MACHINE Original Filed Nov. 18, 1925 l I l f l i Patented July 12, 1927.

PATENT oFFlcE.

I CHARLES BUBNHAM, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICL` `O13" COLUMBIA.

` Box-MAKING MACHINE.

Original applicationled November 18, 1925, Serial No. 69,835. Divided and this application filed J'une 18, 1926. Serial No. 116,882.

` This invention has relation to that type of machine `covered by former patents of mine; for example, Patents 1,119,340, December 1, 1914, and 1,252,546, January 8, 1918. The present invention has to do with the removal from the machine of the completed box, and the object is, lirst, to provide an improved ecting deviceadapted to lift the completed boxes out of the carrier turret and deliver themto a horizontal nesting conveyor; secondly, to count the boxes by separating them into batches vof say one hundred each; and, thirdly, to automatically deliver these separated batches of a predetermined number of boxes into a drying apparatus where they are dried and seasoned and then delivered in separate. batches, as more fully hereinafter set forth. This a plication is a division of my application led November 18, 1925, Serial No. 69,835.

In the drawingsi Fig. 1 is a plan view of my improved ap paratus;

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the nesting part of the conveyor; i

Fig. 1b is an enlarged plan of some details of the nesting part of the conveyor;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of my improved apparatus i Fig. 3 is an end elevation of a part of the counting mechanism;

`Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional View taken through the conveyor at a point adjacent the drier; l .KFig. 4a is a perspective view of a detail of the pusher mechanism;

j j Fig. 5 is an enlarged side elevation partly `cam 25.

numeral 11 designating one of the completed boxes. 4`

The turret' carrier is intermittently rotated, and at each dwell of the carrier the last-completed"box is lifted upwardly out of the carrier and carried laterally. and delivered to a conveyor by which the boxes are nested. j The box-engaging member is designated by the numeral 12, this member being provided with flanges which embrace the bottom of the box and thus form a seat for the boxwhich holds the box until it is delivered to the Conveyor. This box-seat 12 is pivotally supported on two pivots 13 and 14. The pivot 13 is supported on the end of a lever 15 which is pivoted at 16 on the free ends of a 'pair of goose-neck arms 17. the lower ends of these goose-neck arms being pivotally mounted on the frame of the machine at 18. The pivot 14 is supported in a pair of lugs19 depending from the box-seat 12. Pivotally connected to the pivot 14 is a depending` rod 20 whose lower end is pivotally connected at 21 to one end of a lever 22 pivotally mounted on a pivot 23 supported on the lower ends of the goose-neck arms 17, the other end of this arm 22 being provided with a roller 24 which works on the face of a cam 25 stationarily afhxed to the'frame.

The free end of the lever 15 is connected by a link-rod 26 to one end of a lever 27 pivotaliy mounted on the aforesaid pivot 23 and having on its free end a roller 28 which works on the face of a cam 29 stationarily aifixed to the frame alongside the aforesaid To tend to hold the box-seat 12 normally in a horizontal position, ready to engage the bottom portion of the box when the box-seat is raised, I provide two coil contractile springs 30 and 31; spring`30 connects the outer ends ofthe lugs 19 to the goose-neck arms at a connecting `bolt 82, while the other spring 81 connects. the outer end of lever 15 to a pin 33 carried by one of theaforesaid goose-neck arms 17.

To intermittently rock the shaft 18 and thus actuate the ejector' mechanism, I affix to one end of the shaft 18 a toothed segment devices located at lthe base of the machine, these devices in the present instance consisting,` of a cam 38 carried by the main driveshaft 39 arranged to actuate an arin 40 aflixed to a rock-shaft 4l which carries another arni 42 pi-votally connected to the lowei` end of the link-rod 37. This mechanism is timed so that when the completed basket arrives over the basket-seat l2 and the turret carrier stops for an instant, the box-seat will be thrown upwardly and io the right to thus deliver the completed box to the conveyor nesting devices hereinafter described. The object of the cams and 29 and their associated devices is to tilt the box-seat or holder 12 to a vertical position by the time it arrives: at the receiving-end of the conveyor mechanism, to thus insure the boxes being delivered to the conveyor mechanism with their rims and bottoms in a vertical position, this vertical position being maintained during the entire movement required for delivering each box into the receiving-end of' the conveyor, thereby insuring proper nesting of the boxes. The shane of the cams 25 and 29 gives to the rods 20, 26 the essential differential move-nient required for thus tiltingthe box-seat l2, and, when the mechanism is returned to rest position, the springs 30 and 31 normally return the box-seat to a` horizontal position beneath the turret carrier.

The nesting lconveyor consists of a pair 0f oppositely-arr.'nged belts 43 set vertically edgewise and each running over a pair of vertically-arranged rollersy 44 and 44. These belts 43 are arranged' apart a distance slightly less than equal to the width of the boxes. Their inner box-engaging faces are driven to the right, i. e., away from the ejector members. Vertical side rollers 45 serve to assist in sustaining and guiding the belts. The belts are simultaneously, intermittently driven by the following mechanism: The) vertical shafts 45y of the two outermost rollers 44 arel provided on their lower ends respectively with a bevel-gear 46. These two= bevelgears niesli with companion vgears 4? aflixed to a horizontal shaft 48.

At one end., this shaft 48 is provided with a small gear' 49 which meshes with a large gear 50 affixed to the adjacent end of a parallel shaft 511. The other end of the shaft 5l is affixed to ratchet-wheel 52, and adapted to a-ctuate this ratchet-wheel is a. pawl 53 carried by a pair of arms 54 pivotally mounted on the aforesaid shaft 5l. These arms .54 are intermittently actuated, up and down, by means of a link-rod 56 which at itsl lower' end is pivotally connected to a link 57 carried by an eccentric strap 58 embracing an eccentric on the aforesaid main shaft 39.

lVith the aforesaid mechanism, it will be observed that the nesting-belts 43 will receive an intermittent feed. This feed will be timed so that the mass of nested boxes held between the belts will be fed a distance of one box after each delivery of a box to the receiving-end of the belts.

From the rcceiving'a.ndnestiiig-belts 43, the nested boxes are delivered onto a main endless conveyor belt 59 which at its left end runs over a drive-pulley 60 mounted on the aforesaid shaft 51, this being positioned at lap each other. This main conveyor belt 59- is thus actuated intermittently, simultaneously with the belts 43, so that when the nested boxes lea-.ve the nesting-belts 43 they rest entirely upon the Vconveyor-belt 5-9. Side flanges Gl serve to hold the nested boxes upright on the upper surface of the belt 59. For the purpose, however, of separating` the nested. boxes into batches having a predetermined number of boxes, l? provide a supplemental feed device for t-he'matin conveyor 59. This consists of anothei' pair of pawl-carryingarms 62 having a. lii-awl 63 reversed with respecttoi the pawl 53, these arms 62 beingl actuated by means of a lin-krod (54 connected to an arm 65 attached to a rock-shaft (56, which latter shaft .is'i'ocked by an arm (57 attached to said shaft 66 and shaft H al point below the nesting-belts 43 so vthat the two belts overconnected by a link 68 to a companion arm 69 affixed to al stub-shaft 70, this latter arm 39 being provided with a roller 7l which is maintained in Contact with a cam 72 by means of a contractile spring 73. As will be seen, the rot-ation of the cam T2 intermittently reciprocates the link-rod 64 and thus imparts to the main convevor 59 an intermittent feed'iii addition to that which it receives through the pawl 53.

rI .llie'cam 72 is afliXed to a rotary shaft 74 which has aflixed. to it a large gear T5 which nieshes with a pinion 76 a-fiixed to ashaft H. The shaft 77 carries a large g'eai 78 which in turn meshes with a pinion 79( affixed to a shaft 80 which is coupled to the main drive-shaft 39. The obj'ectfof this reduction gearing arrangement is to impart a slower movement to the cam, 'T2 (which actuates the supplemental feed) than the eccentric which actuates the main feed, so that after a predetermined number of nested boxes have been fed onto the main conveyor 59 this conveyor will be given an additional quick feed which result-s in separatingthe batch or mass of boxes that have been delivered to the conveyor 59 from. thc boxes remaining' in the nesting-belts 43. It will be understood that while the boxes aie between the belts 43, they are iii a measure clamped by these belts, whilethe boxes that have been delivered from these belts rest freely and' wholly on the conveyor 59. Therefore, when this main conveyor 59 iS given an extra impulse at a time when the nesting-belts are idle, this jump or impulse will cause a separation between the mass of boxes within the nesting-belts and those that are resting upon the main conveyor. This gap between Succeeding batches of nested boxes divides the boxes off into batchesl of a predetermined number, say one hundred in each. The separated batches of boxes thus formed are delivered to the mechanisni, hereinafter described, for depositing them separately into a drying mechanism. A feature of importance in this manner of nesting the boxes is that it lends itself nicely to properly spacing the boxes for drying purposes; that is to say, by properly adjusting and timing the feed of the nesting-belts 43, the last-delivered box will be carried far enough away from the point of deposit of the box to prevent the next-delivered box being jammed against it, leaving a. slight space between the boxes for circulation of hot air in the drying apparatus.

The forward rollers 44 are mounted so as to virtually float, each roller being supported on a pair of arms 81 extending toward the delivery-end of the belts and each being pivotally connected to a bolt 82 at 83, the outer-ends of these bolts being slidably extended through the respective upper and lower ends of a plate 84 bolted on the frame of the machine, a nut 85 being provied on each bolt to limit the inward movement of the bolt and a spring 86 being provided on each bolt to normally force the arms 81 inwardly. Each pair of arms 81 is connected by a plate 87 which lies between two plies of a belt and extends to near the rear roller `44, this plate being supported entirely on the arms 81 and these arms 81 being in turn entirely supported by the bolts 82. Each of the plates 87 is provided on its inner face with a series of flat springs 88 whichv press lightly against the inner face of the inner leg of the belt, these springs 88 together with the springs 86 serving to force said inner leg of the belt inwardly for the purposel of resiliently clamping the nested boxes as they travel, with the belt, inwardly. A supporting plate 89 is mounted between the belts 43. With this mechanism, the boxes are properly received and nested and maintained in separated condition until they are deposited upon the main conveyor, slight variations in. the dimensions of the boxes and wear in the ejector mechanism being nicely taken care of by the manner in which the belts lare supported. l

The main conveyor 59 extends to a position parallel with the exterior of a cylindrical drying apparatus 90 of a well-known type, `embodying a rotary cylinder 91`having pockets 92 in its exterior surface, which pockets j extend longitudinally, of the cylinder so as to be presented, in succession,

as shown by Fig."4, to a position horizontally parallel with the outgoing leg `of the main conveyor 59. After the batches of boxes are delivered to the drier, they are carried around by the cylinder 91 and finally delivered, after drying,to a point adjacent to the receiving-point, as shown in Fig. 4.

The delivery of the separate batches of boxes to the drier is accomplished by the following mechanism: A push-plate 93 is mounted upon a pair of arms 94, and these arms are pivotally connected at 95 to the upper ends of arms 96 which are fixed to a rock-shaft 97. Aflixed to the shaft 97 is an additional arm 98 which is provided with a roller 99` on its lower end and which runs upon a cam 100 aflixed to the aforesaid shaft 74which is extended so as to lie parallel with the main conveyor. `A retractile spring 101 connects the arm 98 to a convenient part of the frame and serves to normally tend to pull down the arm 98, holding it against the operating face of the cam 100. This cam 100 is so constructed that when a batch of boxes reaches a point with reference to the drier so that they may be -pushed into the adjacent pocket of the drier, the roller 99 drops off the nose of the cam and allows spring` 101 to actuate they pusher mechanism and thus push the batch of boxes off the conveyor and into the drier. For the purpose of getting a straight-line push of the batch of boxes, I employ radius' links 102 which are pivotally connected at the outer ends to the outer ends of the arms 94 and at their lower ends to a convenient point of the frame. j

In view of the fact that the shaft 74 is necessarily driven very slowly, the cam 100 cannot be relied upon to withdraw the pusher, since the pusher must be promptly withdrawn outwardly to a point outside of the main conveyor so as not to interfere with the next, oncoming batch of boxes. `I therefore provide a special, quick withdrawing mechanism which consists, in the present instance, of a cam 103 affixed to shaft 74 and adapted to engage a roller`104 on the lower end of an arm 105 pivotally mounted on the aforesaid rock-shaft 97. This roller 104 is kept x pressed against the face of the cam by means of a retractile spring 106 connected to a lateral extension 107 on Vsaid arm `105. The arm 105 isprovided with a tappet 108 in position to strike against the adjacentzend of a set-screw 109 mounted on the arm 98.

The cam 103 is so positioned with respect the pusher to its rest posit-ion. It will be observed that the springs 101v and 106 do all the work of pushing the batch of boxes into lthe drier and in withdrawing the pusher to restk position, the cams serving merely to tension the .springs and release the mechanism at proper times. It will of course be understood that it is within the spirit of my inventionto deliver' the batch ot' baskets to any receiving means other than a drying apparatus.

In order that one otl the pockets 92 in the drierl cylinder shall always be in position to receive thefbatch of baskets when they are thrust inwardly by the pusher 3, it is necessary that the cylinder be operated synchronously-with saidpusher. I therefor-e provide means for rotating the -cylinder which will insure one of saidpockets being in horizontal alinement with the-upper leg of the belt 59 at the time of discharge of the baskets therefrom. Thisv is done in a simple way by a pair of long pawls 110 which are actuated by cranks 111 carried by the shaft T4. These pawls actuate the cylinder through the mediumof an annular series ot pins 112 on each end o't the cylinder and spaced apart distances equal to the width of the pockets 92. The pawls are actuated to revolve the cylinder during the dwell in the operation ot the pusher mechanism. A spring 113 attached to eachl pawl holds the same in position againstthe pins, and each pawl is provided with a finger 114 which prevents it being .pulled behind the pins, thereby holding the pawls always in position to engage the pins on their upward strokes.

W hat I claim as new is: c

1. In a box-making machine having an ejector mechanism, means for receiving the boxes from theY ejector mechanism embodying` a pair of nesting-belts and means for intermittently actuating the same, a main conveyor for receiving the nested boxes from said nesting-belts, means whereby the feeding operation of the nesting-belts will be imparted to said main conveyor, and means 'tor imparting a supplemental feed at apredetermined time to` said main conveyor, for the purpose set forth. s

2. In a box-making machine .having an ejector mechanism, a box-receiving nesting mechanism embodying a pair of nestingbclts, a main conveyor belt arranged to receive the nestedA boxes therefrom` and means tor imparting an independent feed to said conveyor belt.

3. In a box-making machine, a conveyor and means for delivering thereto separated batches of nested boxes, mechanism for driving the conveyor, and mechanism for pushing the separate batches of boxes off the conveyor operated by the conveyor-driving mechanism.

4. In a box-making machine, a conveyor and means for deliveringthereto separated batches of nested Iboxes, mechanism Jfor driving the conveyor intermittently, and mechanism for intermittently pushing the separate batches or' boxes off the conveyor operated by the conveyor-driving mechamsm.

5. In a boxmaking machine, a conveyor tor receiving thc completed boxes and means ior intermittently actuating the same, a push-plate for intermittently pushing batches ot boxes laterally oit the conveyor, mechanism for actuating this push-plate embodying spring-actuated means 'for actuating the push-plate on its delivery stroke, spring-actuated means for quickly returning the push-plate to rest position, and Acam mechanism operated from the mechanism which drives the ,conveyor to tension the springs in said mechanism. l

6. In a box-making machine, a conveyor tor receiving the completed boxes and means Ytor intermittently actuating the same,l a latorally-mofable push-plate, a rock-shaft, arms rigidly atlixed to this rock-shaft and pivotally connected to the push-plate, means ttor actuating this rock-shaft tirst in one direction to push the boxes otl the conveyor and then in the other direction to return the push-plate to rest position,`embodying a pair ot cams, an arm aiiixed to said rockshaft adapted to be actuated by one of said cams, a pivoted arm adapted to be actuated by the other cam, and springs connected to these arms, tor the purposes set forth.

7. T he combination with a basket-making machine, a conveyor mechanism for vthe finished baskets, and mechanism for push-- ing the baskets laterally oit the conveyor', ot

a receiver t'or the batches of baskets thus' pushed oit' the conveyor consisting oi a rotary cylinder having pockets for receiving the baskets, and mechanism for rotating said receiver to bring the pockets successively into position operated from said `pusher mechanism during the dwell in the operation of the pusher. f

S. 'Ihe combination with a basket-making machine, a conveyor mechanism Jfor the finished baskets, and mechanism for pushing the baskets laterally oii' the conveyor, of a receiver for the batches of baskets thus pushed off the conveyor consisting ot a rotary cylinder having pockets .tor receiving the baskets, and mechanism for rotating said receiver to bring the pockets successively into position operated from said pusher mechanism during the dwell in the operation ot the pusher, said latter mechanism embodying a series ot' pins on said rotary receiver and a pawl adapted to ensaid pins in succession.

9. In combination with a basket-making machine, a conveyor` mechanism tor the finished baskets embodying a belt, and

means for arranging the baskets thereon in batches, means operated by the basket-making machine for pushing said batches laterally off the belt at intervals, a cylinder hav- :iing pockets each of which s adapted to reeelve one of said batches, and means operated by the basket-making machine for rotating said cylinder to bring the pockets successively into position to receive said batches of baskets.

In tesimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature,

' CHARLES BURNHAM. 

